Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates has published numerous books and produced and hosted an array of documentary films. The Black Church (PBS) and Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (HBO), which he executive produced, each received Emmy nominations. In January 2024, Finding Your Roots, Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, returned for its tenth season on PBS. His most recent history series for PBS, Gospel, premiered in February 2024.

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Gates is a recipient of a number of honorary degrees, including his alma mater, the University of Cambridge. Gates was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation in 1981, and in 1998 he became the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2001 he discovered the first novel written by a Black female author, The Bondwoman’s Narrative, by Hannah Craft.

A native of Piedmont, West Virginia, Gates earned his B.A. in History, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1973, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from Clare College at Cambridge in 1979, where he is also an Honorary Fellow. A former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and serves on a wide array of boards, including the New York Public Library, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Aspen Institute, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Library of America, and The Studio Museum of Harlem. In 2011, his portrait, by Yuqi Wang, was hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Books

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Kevin M. Burke. 2015. And Still I Rise: Black America Since MLK. Ecco/HarperCollins. Publisher's Version Abstract

The companion book to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s PBS series, And Still I Rise—a timeline and chronicle of the past fifty years of black history in the U.S. in more than 350 photos.

Beginning with the assassination of Malcolm X in February 1965, And Still I Rise: From Black Power to the White House explores the last half-century of the African American experience.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2014. Os Negros Na América Latina. Companhia das Letras. Abstract

Latin American Edition of 'Black in Latin America'

Segundo Henry Louis Gates Jr., a história da diáspora africana é em grande medida a história dos ciclos econômicos - mineração, açúcar, tabaco, pecuária - das colônias europeias no Novo Mundo. A partir da descoberta da América, milhões de homens e mulheres foram transportados em horríveis condições até portos como os de Havana, Veracruz e Salvador. Aqueles que sobreviviam à viagem em geral trabalhavam até a morte nas fazendas, minas e cidades coloniais, assim como seus descendentes.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2014. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African American Literary Criticism (25th Anniversary Edition). 25th ed. Oxford University Press. Abstract

25th anniversary edition of Gates's landmark work of cultural studies

New to this Edition:

New preface written by the author
New afterword written by noted critic W. T. J. Mitchell

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2013. En Busca De Nuestras Raíces: De Cómo 19 Extraordinarios Afroamericanos Rescataron Su Pasado. Latin American Edition of "In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past." Ciencias Sociales.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Donald Yacovone. 2013. The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. Smiley Books. Abstract

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is the companion book to the six-part, six hour documentary of the same name, airing on national, primetime public television in the fall of 2013. The series is the first to air since 1968 that chronicles the full sweep of 500 years of African American history, from the origins of slavery on the African continent and the arrival of the first black conquistador, Juan Garrido, in Florida in 1513, through five centuries of remarkable historic events right up to today—when Barack Obama is serving his second term as President, yet our country remains deeply divided by race and class.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2012. The Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Reader. Edited by Abby Wolf. Basic Civitas Books. Abstract

Educator, writer, critic, intellectual, film-maker-Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has been widely praised as being one of America's most prominent and prolific scholars. In what will be an essential volume, The Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Reader collects three decades of writings from his many fields of interest and expertise.

Films

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2022. Black History in Two Minutes (or So). Writer, host, and executive producer. Web series. Series Two and Three, 2022-2023. Abstract

It's Black History delivered in short, lively, fact-packed stories accessible to people of all ages and education levels. It's fast, accurate U.S. history describing major historical events and introducing less well-known experiences involving Black Americans. The topics range from recent events to the founding of the United States of America. Heroes of the Civil Rights movement are covered, as are some of the more obscure figures in the fight for equality.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2021. Finding Your Roots, Season 7. Writer, host, and executive producer. Television series, PBS (ten, one-hour episodes). Abstract

Renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns for a new season of FINDING YOUR ROOTS. Using genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis, Gates guides influential guests deep into the branches of their family trees, revealing surprising stories of love, hardship, and triumph that transcend borders and merge to form an American root system fortified by its diversity.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2021. Finding Your Roots, Season 7. Writer, host, and executive producer. Television series, PBS (ten, one-hour episodes). Abstract

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2021. Black Art in the Absence of Light. Executive producer: Feature-length documentary, HBO: February 2021. Abstract

A look at the indelible contributions of some of the foremost African American artists in today's contemporary art world.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2021. The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song. Writer, host, and executive producer: Four-hour series, PBS: February 2021. Abstract

Trace the history of the Black Church in America. From enslavement to today, the series explores key events shaping an institution at the heart of African American communities on the frontlines of hope and change.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2021. Civil War (Or, Who Do We Think We Are). Executive producer. Feature-length documentary, NBCUniversal, June 2021. Abstract

A journey across the United States to explore the story of the Civil War of Americans from President Obama's final year in office through the present.